Shoe



Dec. 16, 1941.

C. L. WILCOX SHOE Filed sept. s o} 1959 Patented Dec. 16, 1941 SHOE Clark L. Wilcox, Brockton, Mass., assignor to Field and Flint Co., Brockton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 30, 1939, Serial No. 297,294

2 Claims. (Cl.

My invention relates to shoes, particularly, but

not exclusively, to golf shoes provided with calks.

The invention, which has among its objects the provision of a waterproof shoe, and a shoe in which the foot of the wearer is protected from the pressure of the calks if the latter are employed, will be best understood from the following description when read in the light of the accompanying drawing, while the scope of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a shoe according to the invention, with parts broken away and parts in section;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the bottom of the shoe before the outsole and heel are applied;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the shoe aocording to Figs. l, 2 and 3, and corresponds to a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale.

The shoe illustrated in the drawing is a welt shoe having an insole l, Welt 3, outsole 5, and uppers, which latter comprise an outer upper leather 1 and an inner fabric lining 9. As shown, the insole on its under side is provided with a channel li, and the welt on its under side with a channel i3, from one to the other of which extend the stitches I5 of the inseam for securing the welt and the marginal edge portions of the uppers to the insole, which marginal portions lie between the adjacent edges of the welt and insole. The construction described provides a cavity ll between the outsole and insole which receives a ller l5 hereinafter described. Except for this iiller, the construction so far described is that commonly employed in a Goodyear Welt shoe.

As illustrated, the outsole is provided with replaceable calks 2l having Shanks 23 screwthreaded into thimbles 25 carried by the outsole. As shown, the thimbles are provided with flanges 2'! resting against the inner side of the insole, which flanges are struck up with teeth 29 pressed into the outsole to prevent turning of the thirnbles. When the calks are screwed into the thimbles the outsole is clamped between the flanges 21 of the thirnbles and the flanges 3l of the calks.

It has been found that in golf shoes, particularly after they have been worn for a time, or are of light construction, or when the outsole or both the outsole and insole become softened on account of being subjected to moisture, the pressure of the calks tends to injure, or cause discomfort to, the foot of the wearer of the shoe. In the present invention this action is prevented by placing in the cavity Il of the shoe a filler i9 of suicient hardness to prevent the pressure of the calks from being imparted through the insole tothe foot of the wearer, it being understood that the usual insole, although to some extent stiff and hard, does not have the same stiffness and hardness as the usual dry outsole, and that neither under the conditions above mentioned will effectively relieve the foot of the wearer from the pressure of the calks, particularly if the wearer steps on a stone or other hard obstruction or if the calks tend to cant. This ller also is preferably Waterproof, and acts to waterproof the insole, in which respect it is useful in situations where no calks are employed.

As a suitable filler I preferably employ a fabric of Woven material such as thick cotton cloth which may, if desired, be of several plies, or of structureless material such as felt or matted cellulose fibers, in either case the material being impregnated with stiflening substance which preferably is of such nature as to waterproof the ller.

This ller may be made by taking a sheet of the fabric and dipping it in a solution or dispersion of substance insoluble in water so as to impregnate it with the solution or dispersion. The fabric as soon as it is impregnated with the solution or dispersion may be removed from the vessel containing the latter, and then immediately and before it dries be placed in water so that the water may displace the solvent liquid and precipitate the dissolved or dispersed substance. This dissolved or dispersed substance of the impregnating solution or dispersion may, for example,

Abe of such material as nitrocellulose, or various gums such as manila, copal, kauri, sandarac, or common resin, all of which are insoluble in water, and may be dissolved or dispersed in a suitable `liquid medium such as alcohol, acetone, ether,

ammonia solution, etc., depending upon in which the particular material is soluble. Reclaimed Celluloid dissolved in ethyl alcohol, or nitrocellulose dissolved in acetone, to make a solution having the consistency of ordinary thin varnish will give satisfactory results. The hardness of the nal product present in the shoe may be controlled by dissolving into the solution small amounts of ordinary or reiined resin. After the liquid contents of the impregnating solution are displaced by water the substance is precipitated in substantially colloidal form throughout the interstices of the cloth, felt, or the like. The material so treated may then be squeezed and dried to remove any residual liquid.

The dried sheets above described are non-tacky and porous and may be readily cut to the desired outline of the filler, preferably by use of a die, and the blanks so formed skived at their edges to t the cavity l1 properly, the presence of the precipitated substance acting to prevent raveling or the like which would otherwise occur with untreated cloth or the like were it attempted to cut and skive it. The blanks then may be dipped in a suitable mulling liquid consisting of a solvent for the precipitated particles as, for example, where reclaimed Celluloid is used the mulling solution may be ethyl alcohol, or a mixture of toluol and ethyl alcohol, and, if desired, may contain a small amount of acetone to secure quick drying. The action of the solvent causes the iinely divided precipitated particles almost instantl-y to coalesce and the sheet or blank to be resolved intoV a flaccid tack body which may be placed in the cavity l1 so as to conform and adhere toA the insole, it being noted that the coalesced particles at the surface of the filler act as a water insoluble cement for securing it to the insole. When the applied blank dries it will becomel non-tacky and water impervious and will retain the shape into which it has been pressed in the cavity, and, although of sufficient flexibility to permit its use as a filler, will be of sufficient stiffness and hardness to prevent the pressure of the calks being imparted tothe foot of the wearer.

After thev filler has dried the outsole may be placed in position and sewed to the welt as indicated by the outseam stitches 32 in Fig. 3. The outsolel preferably is in non-adhering relation to the filler sheet so that the shoe will not be unduly stiffened and worn soles may be readily replaced.

Itl will be observed that, as illustrated, the filler covers the channel Il of the insole for substantially the entire surface of the insole between the edges thereof at the ball and toe portions of the shoe, and thus Waterproofs those portions of the insole. If further waterproofing is desired the lower surfaces of the Welt and exposed edges of the upper leather and lining may be covered with a thin layer of flaccid non-tacky waterproofing substance such as Celluloid or other nitrocellulose base material dissolved in suicient volatile solvent such as ethyl alcohol, which solution also contains a suitable plasticizer such as di-ethyl-phthalate or castor oil dissolved therein, and, if desired, a small amount of amyl acetate to cause the solution when applied to penetrate the surfaces. The solution may be mixed to have the consistency of ordinary varnish so that it may be applied with a brush. When applied it will penetrate and strongly adhere to the leather and impregnate the exposed portions of the inseam stitches I5 and edges of the upper leather and lining, forming, for example, a layer 33 shown as of exaggerated thickness in Fig. 4. This layer, if desired, may extend over and ll the channel Il as well as the channel I3. After the layer 33 is dried the ller may be applied, and after that is dried the outsole may be applied, so that the outsole is not adhesively secured to either the ller or the layer 33. The mulling liquid employed for treating the ller preferably is also a solvent for the layer 33 so that the filler will be united thereto when it partially covers it. For example, if the filler sheet is impregnated With nitrocellulose the mulling solution may be ethyl alcohol.

In practice the layer 33 may extend for the entire length of the welt, or only over the portions thereof at the ball and toe portions of the shoe where the latter is most subjected to moisture when in use.

It Will be observed that, as the material of which the filler is made may be readily skived before mulling it, it may be readily shaped to make a proper rlt with adjacent parts as, for example, the forward end of the stiff leather cover 35 for the metallic shank stiffener 3l, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be understood that, Within the scope of the appended claims, wide deviations may be made from the form of the invention herein described without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

l. A shoe having, in combination, an insole, a welt secured to the insole, an outsole secured to the Welt, said insole and outsole being of material, such as leather, subject to softening when subjected to moisture, calks carried by the outsole having flanges resting against the outer surface of the outsole, and a combined filler and calk-pressure resisting layer spacing the outsole from the insole at the fore part only of the shoe and extending over substantially the entire area of the insole at the ball and toe portions thereof, said layer being in cemented adhering relation to the insole but in non-adhering relation to the outsole so as to minimize that decrease in flexibility of the fore part of the shoe which the layer tends to cause, said layer being of sheet fibrous material impregnated with a waterproofing, stiffening and hardening substance for protecting the insole from softening by moisture and for making it of suioient stiffness and hardness to relieve the insole of longitudinal pressures on the calks and pressures of said flanges upon canting of the calks when the outs .e wears or is softened by moisture.

2. A shoe according to claim l in which the Welt is sewed to the insole by means comprising a channel for the inseam at the under side of the insole, the combined filler and calli-pressure resisting layer extending over said channel for waterproong the inseam.

CLARK L. WILCOX. 

